YARD is a Dublin-based electropunk trio composed of Emmet White (vocals, synthesizer), Dan Malone (guitar), and George Ryan (drums, synthesizer) who have been creating considerable buzz on the festival scene. Their dynamic techno beats paired with guitar produce electrifying results. Their growing popularity became more concrete when KEXP recorded a session with them recently in France.
“That was recorded in France at Les Rencontres Trans Musicales, which is a new music festival. I believe that’s the only location in Europe currently where they film outside of Seattle,” Dan Malone shares with CLASH over Zoom. “When we got booked for that festival early last year, we had it in mind that we might get the chance to do a session with them. We grew up watching KEXP and seeing local acts like Fontaines D.C. and Gilla Band perform, so it was amazing to be able to play a set ourselves.”
Creating a debut work for any artist can be thrilling yet daunting, but YARD took a unique approach with their self-titled EP. “These four tracks have been around for quite some time,” Dan explains. “Last year, as we gained more momentum, we concentrated more on our live performances. We didn’t want to overlook releasing music as well, but since we had these older tracks we wanted to compile into one project, we opted not to release them as singles. ‘Big Shoes,’ ‘Call,’ and ‘Bend,’ which were released last year, are more recent songs. What’s coming out now features some of the older material.”
This debut EP includes singles ‘Slumber,’ ‘Trevor,’ and ‘Sunlight’ — a standout from the KEXP session — along with an unreleased track, ‘Appetite.’ For YARD, the single serves as a future indicator inspired by Robert Eggers’ recent film, Nosferatu, and a change in the band’s lineup. “Many of the lyrics were quite personal to Ben (O’Neil, a former member now with Gurriers). So, we removed it from the set to allow us the opportunity to rework it and come up with new lyrics that would fit Emmett. The song’s significance has transformed. In Nosferatu, there’s a scene where Count Orlok speaks to Ellen Hutter. He tells her ‘I am an appetite.’ He represents a force in her life that she continuously revisits, one she can’t escape, and it’s all-consuming. Emmett was really captivated by this notion of a vampiric force that constantly drains you, yet you keep returning to it, unable to break free.” YARD’s music is exhilarating, forging a connection between the band and their audience. Their creative process is undoubtedly intricate, layering a multitude of sounds. They had to unlearn previous habits — “the classic trope of a drummer not making it to rehearsal, so we started laying down beats in the background from there” — to achieve a more fully realized sound.
“We had to relearn our approach to music when we began YARD,” Dan continues. “We had so many different versions of what the band was at times. Each of us came from various bands and were accustomed to writing music following the traditional punk setup of two guitars, bass, singer, and drummer. How does guitar integrate with synths? How do we perform live using programmed beats instead of a drummer? How do we incorporate punk lyrics? We didn’t want our music to simply be more generic electronic music; we always aimed to maintain that post-punk live feel as well.”
They’ve now honed their songwriting in YARD to a polished craft. Although it still takes considerable time to write songs and handle production, they have developed their process over the years. Often, it begins with a beat, rhythm idea, or lyric, similar to how many other bands create music. The difference lies in the wealth of tools they have at their disposal, allowing for greater creativity due to the nature of their music.
With a recalibrated, polished sound, “songwriting down to a fine art,” and more resources available, YARD has started an extensive tour that will continue until October across the UK and Europe. Ireland offers strong support through Music From Ireland and First Music Contact, which help fund, subsidize, and platform emerging bands like YARD. Nevertheless, Dan Malone is candid about the challenges of building an artist profile and navigating the touring landscape.
“A lot of it hinges on planning,” he states seriously. “The largest challenge of being in a band at the beginning stages is that you often aren’t paid a sufficient fee to make it work. The dilemma becomes how to cover all the logistics now to facilitate future opportunities. We’re very fortunate to receive support from Culture Ireland, First Music Contact, and Music From Ireland, and that necessitates being proactive. We’re lucky in that we’re self-managed and there are only three of us. Yet
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YARD is a Dublin-based electropunk trio consisting of Emmet White (vocals, synthesizer), Dan Malone (guitar), and George Ryan (drums, synthesizer) who have been